This even Windows team knows and they have posted an exhaustive details of how much easier it will be migrating to Windows 8 and how they have combined all the tools used for migration till now resulting in 82% less click and much smoother migration

Here is the list of features, Windows 8 Migration / Upgrade Tool will have :

Instead of 4 different tools, Upgrade Advisor, Windows Easy Transfer, and Setup, Now you have only one tool which combines them all.

You can download the tool from here and its called as Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup

The compatibility report makes it clear and help you determine if you should purchase Windows 8 or not.

During Setup If certain apps or drivers block the installation, the setup will automatically resume instead of you uninstalling it first and then start the setup again. Also you don’t need to go to Program and features to uninstall it but actions can be taken right from here.

If certain apps can be fixed by re-installing it later, the upgrade adviser will let you know on that. This makes sure there is no false positive and to find this it uses Custom Installation Logic though it is limited.

You can check if your software is compatible by visiting the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Compatibility Center here, Type in your software name and see if it is listed.

Smart Download Manager is integrated which can estimate time, can pause, resume, and re download only what is required in case your setup gets stuck in between.

It will use the settings in your current PC so no questions will be asked about your Language, Zone etc.

Dual Boot Setup : You can choose if you want to dual boot right here and not when you get into drive selection which we used to do till now. Since many forget to backup and quit installation and start again, you have a chance here to think.

For Dual Boot You can choose to Install from USB or DVD .

When upgrading, the process is much faster for two reasons, One the file copy is done folder by folder which was file by file before and second instead of using the Move command which used to recreate the files again, Windows 8 Upgrade will use hard links which only updates the internal data to link back to files. This makes sure lot less time is spend on Moving files.

Windows.OLD Folder is deleted automatically after 4 weeks which make sure you aren’t skeptical about keeping it and one fine day you will have more space on your hard disk :). You can also manually do it.

Windows 8 Upgrade Chart from Windows 7 , Vista and Windows XP

You can transfer these…

When upgrading from…

Windows 7

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Applications

x

Windows settings

x

x

User accounts and files

x

x

x

Looking at the chart above, Windows XP uses will be able to transfer only Applications and no Settings and User Account Files. So you make sure you backup everything manually and in case you miss something you can use the Windows.OLD folder to find it.

If you are upgrading from Windows 8 Developer Preview, User Accounts and Files will be retained. Read more here

A Professional Tech blogger, Editor and Writer who talks about solving day to day problems of people who use computer. His expertise are in Windows 7, Microsoft Office, Software, Mobile Apps and Video Posts. You can find Ashish on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.